The first time we visited Venice was in 2016 for three days ahead of the Mediterenean cruise, and the first time we had been to Europe. That first visit captured a lifetime of expectations of what Europe, and more specifically Venice, could be. We were not disappointed. We were meeting friends from different parts of the country thousands of miles from home while seeing things and visiting places we had only read about all of our lives. I still vividly remeber stepping out of Stazione Santa Lucia to see the Grand Canal, the buildings, churches, gondolas and people - it was like magic. And the following days offered the mystery of narrow streets, bridges and canals, a place centuries old. There was a way of life completely different from our own, accomodating a place that is geographically unique. In the evening the enchantment only grew, being in special places with special people.
Fast forward to two months ago when we visited with Kat and Cleo. This time we weren't visiting for ourselves, but to enable them to experience Venice in a way that we had and to see things that they wanted to see. It was only a day trip, but the pace was easy and as much about soaking up the vibe and being enchanted.
And now we are here again, another day trip; but not to see Venice, but rather the Architettura Biennale; a biennial event celebrating and presenting architecture from around the world to people from around the world. It is a cultural event as much as it is an architectural event and has been a part of the international architecture scene for as long as I can remember. The theme this year: Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. invites different types of intelligence to work together to rethink the built environment.
In our effort to traverse the city to and from the event, was Venice less to me than it had been previously? Hard to say. On this trip we had walked our share of narrow, winding, stone paved streets, seen centuries old buildings in quite a few different towns and villages, so maybe that part was not as fresh. There were crowds of tourists (the two of us adding to the mayhem) and that was unfortunate. but still we paused for an espresso and cornetto by the canal, had an Italian lunch at the biennale, and paused to appreciate where we were.
The Biennale was everything it said it was going to be. There were hundreds of individual exhibits from schools, organizations, and companies looking at the built environment in new ways, developing new materials, developing sustainable practices, repairing the environment. There were pavilions from at least a dozen countries. I couldn't begin to describe it here in any meaningful way, except to say in the seven hours we were there, we covered all of the spaces. Some was a peripheral glance and others were a thoughtful pause and digest. The graphics and models were over the top.
It was quite the day. And yes, I still love Venice - I would go back in a heartbeat.
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